


Before You Knew You'd Know Me

by SeaBandit



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asami has skills, BURNT lasagna, Best Friends, Bolin & Asami Sato Friendship, Bolin is just a big 'ol teddy bear, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Korrasami - Freeform, Marine! Korra, Military goodbye, Modern AU, Sad Goodbye, cooking aint one of them, feelings realized, lasagna, legend of korra - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-18 20:09:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16523795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeaBandit/pseuds/SeaBandit
Summary: Asami has to say goodbye to Korra, her best friend of four years, before she is off to the most dangerous place in the world.





	1. My Eyes Were Dark 'till You Woke Me

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by those videos of military servicemen and women returning from being deployed. You know, the ones that always make you cry (don't lie to yourself I know you always tear up at least a little). Title is from "3 Rounds and a Sound" by Blind Pilot. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!  
> Sea Bandit ☽

Asami’s heart pounds and her breath comes in short gasps as she sprints through the airport trying to find the right gate. Her mind a constant running tirade of how she could let this happen, how she could let her work keep her from seeing Korra before she’s off to the most dangerous place in the world. How she had _promised_ she would be there to say goodbye to her best friend and roommate of four years before she's deployed.

She is so close to giving up hope when she sees a big clock on the wall saying how close the time is to Korra’s departure. Tears sting the edges of her eyes and she runs harder, looking everywhere desperately. Until, finally, she spots a familiar group of people clinging to each other by one of the security checkpoints.

It only takes her a split second to register they are all looking in one direction. Watching the back of the girl Asami knows best in the world walking with her luggage through the winding ropes of security towards the TSA agent.

“Korra!” Asami yells desperately as she runs as fast as she can towards the person getting farther from her with every step.

“Korra! Stop!” She blows past Korra’s parents, Mako, and Bolin and is ready to break the law and run through security until Korra’s back suddenly turns and her blue eyes meet Asami’s green.

Her eyes widen and she drops her bags in place to run towards Asami. They meet in the middle in a crushing hug, Korra’s arms banding so tightly around Asami’s waist it pulls the rest of her breath right out of her. But Asami doesn’t care as her arms wrap around Korra’s neck and she buries her face into an achingly familiar head of hair.

“Thank God, you made it.” Korra breathes into Asami’s neck as they hold each other as close as they can.

Tears prick in Asami’s eyes again as she chokes out, “I’m so so sorry Korra. I never would have forgiven myself if I missed you.”

Korra pulls back suddenly and puts her hands on either side of Asami’s face, looking intensely into her eyes, “Asami, you made it here, that’s all that matters.”

Asami nods and in a moment she reads every emotion on Korra’s face. Her jaw is set tightly, muscles jumping as she struggles to hold herself together. Her eyes look everywhere at once as if she’s trying to memorize Asami’s face.

Asami is seized with the sudden need to say so many things at once but she knows how short they are on time and settles with a desperate whisper, “Please come back.”

Korra nods affirmatively, “I will.”

She looks down at her watch and grimaces before looking back up, pain in her eyes. “I have to go.”

Now it’s Asami’s turn to nod, her throat burning with all the tears she’s trying so hard to hold back and she whispers again, “Okay.”

Korra steps out of her space and Asami feels an ache where Korra’s warmth was. But as her body moves away her eyes refuse to leave Asami’s face. She takes one more step away and Asami sees something akin to determination flash in her eyes.

She quietly states, “I’m sorry.”

Before Asami can tell anything else suddenly Korra’s warmth is once again radiating against her body. Calloused hands gently take hold of the sides of her face and soft, warm lips are pressed against her own.

The kiss is so quick and fleeting she barely has time to think before it’s over and Korra’s breath is fanning across her cheeks.

“I had to do that once, at least. Just in case.” Pained blue eyes flutter open and meet hers before Korra is gone. Her back tightly wound as she picks up her abandoned luggage and follows the rest of the path to the TSA agent.

Asami has barely had a thought pass through her mind as she watches Korra's identification be handed back to her and she's led through another door to the security checkpoint.

The last image Asami has is of Korra glancing back once and giving her signature half smile, with a hint a melancholy, before she’s gone.

Asami stands there in shock, trying to process what just happened while a million thoughts race through her mind. Until a big hand rests on her shoulder. She turns to see Bolin, his sad face a stark comparison to his usual carefree expressions.

A moment passes where she stares at him with her hands grasping at her shirt over her stomach, looking for some semblance of security, before she stumbles forward and falls apart into his arms. Tears flow freely from her eyes and she finally understands why the idea of saying goodbye to Korra hurt so much.

She _loves her_.


	2. Now I See you, 'till Kingdom Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami has to deal with her best friend being off to war while she struggles with not being able to tell her she loves her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys convinced me to do this second part! I really didn't expect much of a response so the response I got made me so happy! Thank you! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy some more Korrasami angst that apparently I'm feeling so strongly. And this one turned out almost 3x the size of the first one. But hey, a mood's a mood sometimes you just gotta roll with it.
> 
> Title is once again from Blind Pilot's "3 Rounds and a Sound", an excellent song.
> 
> Sea Bandit ☽

Asami slammed her laundry into the washer machine furiously, running through her usual daily fit of rage and taking it out on the innocent clothes. Well, all innocent save for one article of clothing.

The headband.

The smelly, stinky simple navy blue elastic headband. The very headband that her _roommate_ always used to wear during workouts because, and Asami quotes, “It’s the only headband capable of keeping my stupid hair out of my stupid face when I’m trying to finish a set!”

The damned headband was found twenty minutes ago sandwiched in between the couch cushions in Asami’s living room. And it immediately set her off, as something always eventually does.

Yesterday, it was the hideous painting on the wall Korra insisted on getting at the flea market two years ago because it “spoke to her soul”.

Two days ago, it was the crack in the tile on the floor of their kitchen Korra had made when she tried and failed to flip a frying pan and catch it midair.

The day before that, it was turning on the TV and seeing Korra’s profile on Netflix. The little icon of the penguin’s face seemingly mocking Asami’s panda icon.

And so on.

Nearly everyday, something gave Asami a reason to go into a mini breakdown of intense emotion. Sometimes crying, sometimes hysterically laughing (usually ending in crying), and sometimes anger. The state she was currently fighting through.

It had been six months since Asami had to say goodbye to Korra. Six months since Korra had left Asami with a kiss and a promise to come back. Six months since Asami had realized she was desperately in love with Korra.

In that time the only contact she had with her best friend was through letters, the old-fashioned way.

Because _of course_ Korra had to be the most accomplished marine out of training and _of course_ that meant she was sent to where the danger was highest. In the middle of some desert Asami wasn’t allowed to know the location of, where couriers could only get letters to and from every three weeks. Not including the time it took the letters to be sent back to Asami and the time it took Asami’s letters to be sent back to Korra.

In every letter Asami felt the gaping blank spaces of words that needed to be said. Words she so desperately wanted to say to Korra but couldn’t in writing, it had to be in person.

But everyday Asami felt the same constricting panic in her chest that she might never get to say those words to Korra. That the next time she saw the girl she loved could be just as easily watching her walk out of the arrival gate at the airport as it could be at an event accompanying the folding of an American flag to be given to Korra’s parents while shots are fired into the air.

And almost everyday Asami broke down in some little way as she was hit with a reminder of her agonizingly amazing roommate.

So today it was the headband.

And tomorrow it would be something else.

When she finished abusing her sweatpants that got wrapped around her arm while being thrown violently into the washer machine, Asami slammed the lid shut. Getting one last infuriating glimpse of that plain blue headband sitting so innocently at the top of the pile before water and suds would consume it.

She angrily kicked at the plastic laundry bin by her feet and it bounced off the wall while Asami growled and marched away. She always needed something to distract her and get her frustration out when she fell into this kind of mood.

Her go-to was usually to head straight back to work no matter the hour and bang around in a busted car until something worked the way it was supposed to. Her fury needed something it could control before it could finally be released.

But today that was not an option as her boss had forcefully sent her home early because “spending every waking minute at work is not a healthy way to live your life” or something. What a load of shit.

Where else could Asami expect to spend her every waking minute when any time she wasn’t mind-numbingly busy her thoughts were ruled with worry over the girl she loved on the other side of the world. She had thought that with time her angst would lessen as she got used to the idea of Korra being in constant danger. But if anything, it just kept getting worse.

She stomped around the apartment looking desperately for anything to distract her until she happened upon the special lasagna recipe Pema had sent Korra after their dinner with Tenzin and the family so long ago.

Korra was obsessed with the meal, eating almost four full servings before her stomach was stretched to its limits and she was forced to lay on the couch, moaning “how could a food taste _so_ good but hurt _so_ much”. Pema had laughed and said she would send Korra the recipe if she really loved it so much, just before Meelo took his chance to vault over the back of the couch onto Korra’s vulnerable stomach. Asami and the rest of the family were consumed in laughter at the pained moans of the victim while Meelo grinned ear to ear. Even Tenzin needed to clutch his stomach to hold himself together when Korra rolled onto the floor trying to get away from Meelo as he prepared one of his epic farts aimed right at her. It was one of those nights when Asami felt like she finally had a family again.

But Asami wasn’t feeling like laughing at the current moment, as she glared at the recipe for bringing on an onslaught of happy memories.

_Well_ , she thought, _no time like the present to learn how to cook lasagna_.

And she got right to it, finding all the right ingredients in her fridge and cabinets.

But her fury seemed to make her forget just how truly bad she was at cooking. Something she remembered again as she stared down the sloppy, soggy, overly cheesy mess of a lasagna sitting on her counter hours later.

She growled in frustration and threw her oven mitts onto the ground, ready to stomp on them like a toddler while angry tears sprung into her eyes at her desperation to _stop feeling so miserable_. When she heard a swift knock on the door.

Her fury ignited even sharper than before as her mind jumped to the only person it could be at this hour on a Thursday night.

_Tahno_.

The sickening man who lived across the hall from her apartment and would knock on her door at randomly late hours of the night to ask her out for dinner. Despite Asami saying a firm and swift no every single time, he seemed to firmly believe that one day she would change her mind and fall head over heels for his creepy smirk.

She stomped over to the door ready to give that slimy bastard a final piece of her mind once and for all. Her clothes covered in various speckles of food and not caring in the slightest, she flung open the lock and ripped open the door.

“ _Tahno for the last fucking tim---_!” Poison dripped from every word she got out before she stopped cold and felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest and chucked into a cold abyss.

She struggled to take just one breath as blood pulsed through her ears and she tried to comprehend who was standing there. Because it was decidedly _not_ Tahno.

It was _Korra_.

Korra standing there in her fatigues with a large duffle bag by her side. Korra standing there with the most nervous look on her face Asami had ever seen. Her hair cut short just the way Asami remembered but a new scar gracing the line of her jaw. Her skin somehow darker than it had been before she left.

Asami choked as she realized what she was looking at wasn’t another one of her startlingly vivid dreams but real life. And reality snapped into view when Korra said timidly, like she thought her words might break something.

“Asami?”

Suddenly everything unfroze and Asami let out a strangled, “You’re _here_.” Before throwing herself forward onto Korra’s body, desperate to feel anything just to prove that this was actually happening and Korra was physically standing before her.

And it was proven as Asami’s arms were thrown around Korra’s neck and her face was buried into her shoulder. She inhaled deeply and her heart instantly refilled the hole in her chest feeling like it was going to explode. Korra’s staggering step back turned to her strong arms gripping around her torso so tightly Asami prayed she would never let go.

In that moment, Asami felt like she could finally breathe again.

For the first time in six months she felt the weight lift off her chest and every exhale she gave wasn’t held by an anchor in the pit of her stomach.

For the first time in six months, Asami realized, she could finally say to Korra what she so desperately wanted to say to her the moment her back walked through the security gate in the airport.

Asami pulled back and Korra’s gripped lessened just enough to allow Asami room to look her in the eye. Those beautiful cerulean eyes gazed right back at her and Korra’s mouth began to open to say something.

But before she got the chance Asami jolted her face forward and pressed their lips together.

Finally, after trying to remember the feeling of Korra’s lips on hers for six months, Asami didn’t have to grasp at memories anymore.

She let out a sigh of relief as the sensation of Korra’s soft lips consumed her mind and her eyes stayed shut. Even as the slight sound of surprise that fell out of Korra’s mouth vibrated through hers, she held onto this moment.

And even though it was probably only a second, it felt like years before Korra gripped her even tighter than before and pressed her mouth back into Asami’s.

Asami’s lips began to move of their own accord and Korra responded in kind. At least until Asami let a little bit of her tongue flick out against Korra’s lips and it was like a dam had burst.

Suddenly, Asami’s arms were no longer around Korra’s neck but gripping the front of her fatigues as Korra practically carried her inside their apartment and threw the door closed.

Asami’s back was pressed surprisingly gently against the door and her hands found a new home diving into Korra’s hair. Korra’s hands lightly ran up and down her waist as their mouths danced with each other. Both pouring every ounce of their emotions into their movements hoping that the message would come across.

It hit Asami as Korra’s thumb softly stroked under the hem of her shirt that she had yet to say the words she intended to say. She moved her hands to cradle the sides of Korra’s face and broke their kiss.

It took a moment, but Korra’s lidded eyes managed to flutter open, her pupils were blown wide and her lips were swollen as she stared at Asami with a look that threatened to consume her.

Before it could, though, Asami caressed the sides of Korra’s face and stared deep into her ocean blue gaze.

“Korra.” She whispered softly, as if she was afraid speaking too loud would shatter the moment. “I love you.”

Korra’s reaction was instantaneous.

Her stunningly blue eyes filled with tears before she blinked and her head dropped forward onto Asami’s shoulder. Her nose and lips pressed against Asami’s neck as she inhaled a shaky breath.

“You have no idea how many times I imagined you saying that to me.” She whispered into the crook of Asami’s neck, her lips pressing softly to the skin before she lifted her head again.

She gazed into Asami’s deep emerald eyes and uttered quietly, fervor enhancing every word, “Oh God Asami, I love you so much I feel like I might drown in it.”

Asami’s heart swelled beyond her chest, her heart beating so loudly she knew Korra could feel it as well. Because she could feel the pounding in Korra’s chest vibrate through their bodies pressed together.

Asami leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Korra’s forehead. She trailed her lips down the bridge of Korra’s nose and felt the warmth of her soft exhale against the column of her throat. Her lips made a path, pressing feathered kisses under Korra’s eyes and along her jaw.

She poured her entire heart into conveying the pure love she felt for Korra across her face. Until she came back to her lips and brushed them together, only a breath away.

Korra’s eyelids flickered open from where they had fallen and her blue once again met Asami’s green.

Asami let her lids flutter shut and she pressed forward to close the distance and once again Korra matched her as they spilled their love across their joined lips.

Asami let her hands trail down Korra’s arms until her fingers tangled with Korra’s. As their hands twined together, Asami finally felt complete again. 

And just as they broke apart to inhale together, Korra paused, "Did you make lasagna?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's that military return we were all aching for. I mean damn, talk about feels.
> 
> I'm thinking about continuing with this AU but I like the conclusion now so we'll see if I'm inspired in the future. I will be posting other fics tho so hit that subscribe if you want to know when I drop them. 
> 
> Also HMU on tumblr at banditofthesea.tumblr.com if you want to cry about how Korrasami makes your heart do the hokey pokey.
> 
> Thanks guys! 
> 
> Comments >>>>> everything

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've ever posted on here, definitely not the first I've written though haha. Go easy on me but I hope you guys liked it.  
> I might post a second part but we'll see how I feel and if you liked this one.  
> Comments are always and forever appreciated!


End file.
